Stitchdown shoemaking machine



y 5, 1932- P. w. VALENTINE I 1,866,182

STITCHDQWN SHOEMAKING MACHINE Filed July 13, 1929 Patented July 5, 1932 UNITED STATES OF E PERCY w. VALENTIN or. NA'rIoK; MASSACHUSETTS .s'rrronnown snonivmxme ivmcnmn 7 Application filed iul 'is, 1929.' Serial No..377, 947.. f

, The present invention relates to machines for making stitch-down shoes with simultaneous performance of the steps of lasting the upper with an outturned edge'flange,

5 stitching the flange of the upper'to the flange of the innersole, and trimming off the edges of both flanges toapproximately finished width. In its broader aspects the present invention is similar to'that disclosed in my prior application for method and apparatus for lasting and rough roundingrstitch-down shoes, filed November 16, 1928, Serial No. 319,898. As compared with said prior application my present object and accomplish- 16 ment has been to provide a new and improved p g'ressiv'ely in time with the feed of thejwork,

trimming knife by which, the edges of the innersole and upper are trimmed and rounded more smoothly and effectively.

In its practical aspects as herein illustrated, the invention has been applied toa commercial sewing machine of a type'which i has long been on the market, wherefore in this illustration I have shown only so much of the previously existing machine as is necessarytoexplainthe mode of attachment of the new feature thereto and its cooperation with the previously existing means for pressing the flange of the upper against the innersole, forming the stitches of a seam, and feeding the work; v

Referring to the drawing, Fig.1 is a partial side elevation and vertical section of a machine embodying the pres ent invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2 2'of Fig. 3'is a detail sectiononline 3-3 of Fig.1; 1

' Fig. 4: is a perspective view of the sole rounding cutter; f

Fig. 5 is a sectional view enlarged of the same taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a fragment of a stitch-down shoe in process of be- 45 ing lasted and rough rounded in accordance with this invention. I

Like reference characters designate the same parts wherever they occu'r in all the 50 10 represents the base andll theoverwell known and understood by persons skilled handing head of a commercial sewing ma- -chine of known type.- i 12 is an upright rising from the base 'on'which is secured a work support 13. f f'An awl 14 depends from the head and afneedle 15 rises from the base, these parts cooperating with one another and with auxiliary stitch forming mechanism not shown, to pierce the outwardly extending flanges'of the upper and innersole of a shoe 16, pass a thread through the holes so made;

feed the .workforward, and form stitches uniting such'flanges together. 17 is a presser depending from the head and operating by a reciprocating movement to draw theupper around the sides of a last step by stepproand press the outturned flanges of the upper port adjacent to the point where the awl and needle pierce such flanges and place the sewing thread. The mechanism for operating these members in the manner and for the objects stated are not shown or described herein, as means "suitable for these purposes are in'theart. ,v Although'the upright 12is shown hereinas amounted on cone pointed screws 18, this is a featureof the commercial sewing machine with which my new attachment has been 'assodated to make the complete combination of the present invention, and has nothing to do with this invention. It is sufficient to say that during the operation of the machine this upright occupies the position shown in the drawing and is rigidly maintained therein.

The upright 12 is provided with a lateral sleeve 19 below the work support which provides a bearingfor-a rock shaft 20.. On one endof the rock shaft'is arising arm 21 providing a carrier for a knife 22 which projects through slots'inlthe work support llcan'd presser'17, crossing the space between these members in'which'are re'ceived'the outstand v ing flanges of the shoe upper and innersole.

1 on the other end of the rock shaft is an arm 23 'enga'ged-witha stud 24on a driving arm 25 carried'by a shaft26 to which oscillativemovement is given by means of well known character, not necessary to be shown herein.

Arm 23 is pressed against the stud by a spring 27 which is coiled around the sleeve 19 and one end of which presses against a. lug 28 on the side of the arm While the other reacts against a stud 29 on the sleeve. The face 30' of arm '23 which engages the stud 24. extends at an inclination to the. path in which the stud travels. withoscillatien of arm 25,.whereby downward movement ofthe latter arm causes arm 28 to swing in one direction, as

shown by dottedlinesiin Fig.2;whileupwazrd movement of arm 25 allows the spring 27 to re- 7 turn the arm 23 to the full line position. By

this means the knife is oscillated in a path approximately parallel tothe direction of work feeding, and in, timed relationship to the steps of the feed, whereby at aeonvenient stage. in'the cycle of the feeding andstit ch forming means, thie kI-1ife advances; withits cutting edge foremost, inthe direction opposite to the feeding direction,- and trims off the surplus stock at the edges of the innersole and. upper.

Considered with respect. to Fig, 2, the

feeding direction is. from right to left and the movement of the knife in cutting is from left to right. The cutting, edge of the knife is its right handedge, with. respect to this figure... Thus the knife. performs the operw tion of sole rounding simultaneously with the lasting and stitching operations. The effect in a partially completed shoe is shown in Fig. 6, where 16 represents. the upperfiil the innersole, 32 and the contiguous flanges of the voutturned upper'a'nd innersole, '34 the-seam as) far asit' has been carried, and35 the surplus stock out off by the trimming knife. It is to be understood,

however, that various other means for effecting thev same, character. of relative movement between the knife and' the work may be used within the scope of equivalents covered by the claims herein.

In order that the upper may he tucked well into the. anglebetween the side of-the lastandthe flange of the sole by means of a vert cally reciprocating presser, the sup port 13 is arranged at an inclination and the adjacent face of the presser L'Z is similarlyinclined. As the knife is perpendicular to this inclination,v and'its operating rock shaft 20 is horizontal, it results that the knife travelsin a slightly curved path, but its movement is so short that the deviation flof'its actual are of travel from the straight line is so slight as to be practieably inappreciable' and is less than the surplus width intentionally left, in the flange to be removed by a final shaving'step after the .outsolle has beenapplied. Indeed such curvature in the path of the knife as exists is of advantage in giving a smooth outline to the convex portions of the sole edge, whichconstitute the major proportion of the entire perimeter of the sole. However, it is. within, my

contemplation to arrange the knife exactly perpendicular to its rock shaft either with or without correspondingly altering the inclination of the work support or that of the rock shaft.

The efiect of the oscillating knife is to trim the flange of the shoe with a smooth and a continuous edge, such that the successive steps of the cut merge into one an-- other indistinguishably.

= A's showing the preferred means of mounting the knife holder on the rock shaft and "detachably mounting the knife blade in the holder, attention is directed to Figs. 3, 4

and 5. The knife holder is provided with a hub portion 36- and with transverse threaded; holes-entering its bore from one side, in which'are-fitted set screws37. That. part. of

the rock shaft which enters the. hub has" a fla-t side 38 against which the two set screws matic means, also. grasps the upper. with hispincersand pulls it smooth'over the last- In doing this he works on the upper near the automatic instruments of the machine and maintains a tension inthe upper against which the presser acts when. finally bringing it into the fully lastedv position. 7

After completion of the operations herein described, the outersole is applied to the bottom ofthe lasted. shoe and the shoe then finishedin any suitable way; with this exception, that the usual step of rough. rounding after applying the outersole. is omitted. Owingto the rounding of the innersole performed with this machine,v it is possible to provide outersoles cut from' the side of leather to nearly finished dimensions, and having only such surplus stock as needed for final shaving to bring themiexactly to a desired outline. That is, the approximation to finished dimensionsthus given to the innersoIe enables'an outersole cut to a substantially equal approximation to finished dimensions to be quickly and correctly applied to the lasted shoe,- and eliminates the. rough rounding. operation which has been performed as a separate step after application of the outersole. This saves time and labor cost in the manufacture of the shoe andwaste of good'sole leather.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is v I in the upper, means for stitching a seam through said flanges and simultaneously feeding the shoe, and arough rounding trimmer arranged across the space between said pressing means in which said flanges are received and being operable back and forth in a line substantially parallel to the direction of feeding.

3. An apparatus comprising cooperating for use in .lasting shoes supporting and 'pressing means adapted to receive the flanges of an outturned shoe upper and innersole between them and to press said flanges together, means for stitching a seam through said flanges and feeding the work in a given direction, and a trimming knife extending across the space between said supporting and pressing means in which said flanges are received, having a cutting edge and being arranged with its width dimension substantially parallel to the direction of work feed, whereby said flanges are trimmed with a substantially smooth continuous edge in the course of feeding thereof.

4:- An apparatus for use in lasting shoes comprising cooperating supporting and pressing means adapted to receive the flanges of an outturned shoe upper and innersole between them and to press said flanges together, means for stitching a seam through said flanges. and feeding the work in a given direction, and a trimming knife extending across the space between said supporting and pressing means in which said flanges are received, having a cutting edge and being arranged with its width dimension substantially parallel to the direction of work feed, and means for reciprocating allel to the direction of feed effected by said i Work feeding means.

6. An apparatus forms in lasting shoes comprising a work support adapted to support the sole, including the marginal porsaid knife substantially in the plane of its width dimension and in directions subed dimensions.

7. A machine for lasting, stitching and trimming stitch-down shoes comprising pressing, piercing v and stitch forming instrumentalities, a cutter mounted independ. ently of said instrumentalities, and means for effecting relative linear movement between the cutter and shoe in the direction of progress of stitching, the cutter being located adjacent to the stitch forming instrumentalities whereby it trims the shoe outside of the line of stitches.

8. An apparatus for use in lasting shoes comprising cooperating supporting and pressing 'means adapted to receive the flanges of an outturned shoe upper and innersole between them and to press said flanges together, means for sewing a seam through said flanges, and a trimming knife extending across the space between the supporting and pressing means in which said flanges are received, and located near the seam sewing means, the knife and shoe being relatively moved, one with respect to the other, in the direction of progress of the seam whereby to trim the outstanding edges of said flanges;

In testimony whereof I'have aflixed my 

